Sharpey-Schäfer Lecture

4 December 2015 at 1:00 pm in the Lecture Theatre, HRB

Edward Sharpey-Schäfer, FRS FRSE

2^nd June 1850 – 29^th March 1935, Professor of Physiology (1899-1933), University of Edinburgh

Professor Sir Edward Sharpey-Schäfer established the field of endocrinology and was a founding member of The Physiological Society. An outstanding scientist and communicator, he was committed to his vision of medicine based on laboratory science.  He was a compassionate, engaging and supportive mentor to numerous students who went on to achieve fame in their own right.

His early histological work on the nerves of the jellyfish Aurelia aurita led to his very early promotion of the idea that nerve cells are structurally and functionally independent units (Phil Trans R Soc Lond (1878) 169: 563-575). This later became known as the ‘neuron doctrine’. His landmark work with the physician George Oliver revealed the role of adrenaline (as an adrenal gland extract) in the control of blood pressure (J Physiol (1895) 18: 230-276). This discovery became of widespread practical benefit in clinical medicine. Importantly, it led to the development of the ‘hormone concept’ and paved the way to the discovery of chemical neurotransmitters. Sharpey-Schäfer also contributed widely to work on cerebral localisation and the autonomic nervous system. He was still performing experiments on himself in his seventies to understand mechanisms of recovery after nerve damage. He authored many histology and physiology practical guides and books, including the Textbook of Physiology (1898) and The Endocrine Organs (1916). In 1908 he founded the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Physiology and, upon retirement as editor in 1933, was presented with Volume 23 composed of research papers written by his former students.

Born Edward Albert Schäfer in London, he was educated at University College, London where he was greatly influenced by the pioneering physiologist, Professor William Sharpey.  Following graduation in 1874, he worked under J.S. Burdon Sanderson and succeeded him, at the age of just 33, to the second Jodrell Professorship of Physiology at University College in 1883.  Following the death of his first wife, Schäfer took up the Chair of Physiology at Edinburgh in 1899 where he remained until his retirement in 1933. In 1918, Schäfer changed his name to Sharpey-Schäfer to commemorate his eldest son John, who died at the Battle of Jutland. John had been given the middle name Sharpey after his father’s great friend and mentor. Knighted in 1913 Sharpey-Schäfer was awarded the Copley Medal, the highest honour of the Royal Society, in 1924.

His impact was broad, including the development of the pressure-prone method of artificial respiration adopted by the Royal Life Saving Society. In 1901 he commissioned a house and stables, at ‘Marly Knowe’ in North Berwick, from the Scottish architect Sir Robert Lorimer, and died there in 1935.